Duke NCSP Welcomes Inaugural Cohort, Second Cohort

Duke’s National Clinician Scholars Program (NCSP) welcomed its first cohort of scholars on July 1, 2019. The NCSP currently comprises six sites at institutions across the nation, offering unparalleled training for clinicians as change agents driving policy-relevant research and partnerships to improve health and health care. A second cohort was announced in December of 2020.

The second cohort of Duke NCSP scholars (L to R): Kamal Golla, MD, MPH; Melissa Harris, BSN, RN, PhDc; Jennifer May, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, PhDc; and Karen Scherr, MD, PhD

The second cohort of Duke NCSP scholars (L to R): Kamal Golla, MD, MPH; Melissa Harris, BSN, RN, PhDc; Jennifer May, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, PhDc; and Karen Scherr, MD, PhD

The overarching goal of the national program is to cultivate health equity, eliminate health disparities, invent new models of care, and achieve higher quality health care at lower cost. Duke’s NCSP is building upon this objective by training inter-professional clinician scholars in data-driven inquiry, rigorous investigation, sensitive community-based participatory research, and the transformation of the health care practice. With proximity to key federal and state policy stakeholders, Duke NCSP has joined resources from the Schools of Medicine and Nursing and the Durham VA Medical Center to create a unique training experience that prepares Scholars for leadership in clinical research and health policy locally, regionally, and nationally.

One of the scholars’ first assignments on campus is to engage in a community immersion experience allowing them to apply guiding principles of community engagement and community-engaged research in health-related research and health improvement activities. The experience involves gathering preliminary data for the upcoming Healthy Opportunities Pilots to evaluate the impact of providing select evidence-based, non-medical interventions related to housing, food, transportation and interpersonal safety to high-needs Medicaid enrollees.

“This experience allows the scholars to gain a better understanding of Medicaid Transformation in North Carolina, learn more about Durham and the surrounding communities as well as introduce them to various stakeholders from local community organizations,” said Devon Noonan, PhD, associate program director for Duke NCSP. “This project fits exceptionally well with the goals of NCSP training program allowing the scholars to play a key role in improving the health and wellbeing our patients and our community.”

Please visit the national program website for further details on the overall scope of this program.